11 January 2026

Z-A Players Criticize Lackluster New Gameplay Mechanic

By newsgame

Pokemon Legends: Z-A fans lament a problem with trainer battles and how NPCs can spot players, which makes these fights more annoying than they should be. There have been several critiques of Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s gameplay loop and features since it came out, with many revolving around the switch from turn-based combat to real-time battles, which creates some problems regarding line of sight, positioning, and more. For example, many trainers have a hard time hitting opponents if their critters move in front of obstacles, like lampposts or benches, and others struggle with targeting enemy Pokemon based on their location.

This can be quite frustrating, even in Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Ranked Battles, as trainers Mega Evolving their Pokemon will cancel your attacks and also remove the target lock you have on them. Line of sight in Pokemon has historically been a problem for various reasons, from the games making it almost impossible to skip some unwanted fights in 2D games to trainer battles in Gen 9 being easily dismissed by moving around NPCs to avoid line of sight. Now, though, a similar problem is plaguing Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and I couldn’t agree more with those saying it’s dumb.

I Just Started Playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A and I’m Already Disappointed

My Pokemon Legends: Z-A adventure just started, but I’m already underwhelmed with certain aspects of the game.

If You Hate Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Caught Off Guard Mechanic, You’re Not Alone

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Reddit user MoonAaliyah made a post on the Z-A subreddit to complain about the game’s “caught off guard” mechanic, which can be pretty infuriating. User Shmullus_Jones agreed that “it is kind of dumb,” as the game will automatically flag some NPC battles as caught off guard, giving advantage to the opponent even if you’re perfectly in line of sight with them. This happens in both the base game’s Infinite Z-A Royale and the DLC’s Hyperspace Battle Zones, making it frustrating to start battles and wasting a lot of time in Hyperspace Lumiose due to how the timer keeps going while you’re incapacitated and taking enemy attacks with no chance to do anything.

This happens way too frequently across the board, and it happens in situations where it shouldn’t. MoonAaliyah’s video itself shows this occurring twice immediately after defeating the opposing Pokemon from behind, so it begs the question of how the game could ever mark that battle as “caught off guard.” That’s why fellow fans agree that it’s a dumb mechanic, as it doesn’t always take your position into account and randomly (or seemingly so) assigns advantage to the NPC, even when it wouldn’t be possible for them to have it.

How Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Caught Off Guard Mechanic Can Kill Your DLC Runs

In fact, this can happen when you are literally locking eyes with the opposing NPC, which I documented multiple times in a single Hyperspace instance. Luckily, I had a pretty long timer at over 9 minutes, but it’s still ridiculous to be caught off guard when you’re facing the opponent — even worse when they suddenly turn and see you, interrupting your advantage attack and making you waste time. It makes no sense, but it happens very frequently, and it makes some NPC battles in Pokemon Legends: Z-A pretty infuriating.

To be fair, the mechanic can also be used to your advantage in various ways. For example:

You can lie in wait for an NPC to turn and then immediately attack them to get advantage, which makes battles faster and easier.
If an NPC’s Pokemon faces your way and spots you, but the NPC doesn’t, you still get advantage when attacking them.
In Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s grind for the Shiny Charm, before the DLC added more tasks to get it easily, you could let NPCs in the Z-A Royale spot you and attack you first, or simply start the battle. This made handling the timer at night easier, as it doesn’t count down during Z-A Royale battles.

As such, the “caught off guard” mechanic can be equally great and frustrating, depending on who is asked and how things unfold. However, if Pokemon Gen 10 uses Legends: Z-A‘s battle style, it should make improvements to it.